A very happy Memorial Day to all US servicemen and women around the world, especially to those CFDCers – both past & present – who have served or are currently serving. Also, many thanks to Mike & Mark Minukas and Brendan Berry who spent their Memorial Day Sunday with CFDC. Remember to take some time today at 3PM to reflect on Memorial Day, and the fallen soldiers for whom it is celebrated.
“The legacy of heroes is the memory of a great name and the inheritance of a great example.” Benjamin Disraeli
Sunday saw a great Memorial Day weekend turnout. Since things are going to get decidedly warm this week, class started things off outside to enjoy that last bit of spring.
A few weeks ago, we did a class-sized Indian run. For this version, class was pared down into groups of 4 or 5 people, each with one medicine ball among them. As the group jogged, the ball was passed from front to back. When the last person in line received the ball, they sprinted to the front with the ball, and started the process over again.
Tom took the time to review set-up for the bench, and we’ve posted a few reviews on it, but remember to take the time to get set-up properly – we don’t simply walk over and heave a loaded barbell off the ground for deadlifts, so don’t expect to flop down onto a bench and start pressing. Take a moment, work yourself into a nice arch, set your feet, and get a good grip on the bar.
Band Pull-Aparts – remember on the band pull-aparts, just as on the bench press, to keep your lats pulled back and down. The band should end up spread across your chest, not your neck.
DB Tricep “Rolling Extensions” – To perform, lay supine on a bench with your head at the very end of the bench, arms extended straight up with DB’s in each hand (start light!). Bend your elbows so that your forearm begins to lower towards your shoulders – your upper arm should remain vertical. Once you have lowered your forearm as far as it will go, begin rolling your shoulders, lowering your upper arms towards the bench (your elbows remain bent) – your forearms should pass your head come close to touching the floor, depending on the height of the bench and flexibility.
Immediately after finishing your last round of work in the met-con, find space and complete 20 burpees. Just in case you thought CFDC’s new blog-comment policy, announced last Thursday, was an empty threat (but be sure to check out the comments to last Thursday’s post to receive your apology for the burpees as well!)
FYI – there are roughly 15+ different CFDCers featured in today’s post. Just sayin.
Of course, if 20 regular burpees are too boring for you, you can always try a few of these:
Great work everyone. Enjoy your respective Memorial Days, and we’ll see you all on Tuesday.
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0 Comments
Good work everyone. Remember, the point of assistance exercises is to compliment and enhance the overall programming. Getting stronger is a good thing, so don’t be afraid to work on what you need.
Lots of pictures up, may make the met-con programming pretty easy for me (hint, hint).
oh hell naw….I’m sticking with normal burpees and beck burpees.
Good stuff, Tom. I may not build a new program around the bench…but I’m definitely going to work more on pressing and the assistance exercises.
The medicine ball indian run was fun, looking forward to the “Hello Kity” Burpee metcon.
Great to see everyone again. Wasn’t sure how this one would go, between the traveling and the time off, but I was really happy just to be back and moving again! Bench felt ok, box jumps good, KB swings somewhat abusive, burpees… an unceremonious welcome back.
Chris’s new burpee variation looks awesome, eager to give it a shot.
I have to say that Dian looks great and has really improved in the last year. I need to try harder to look as good as her!
For someone who doesn’t get much joy out of running, I have to admit (and I did admit to some of my fellow CFDC’ers) that I did like the Indian run.
Bench press: I worked up to 175# x 3 on my last set. Coach gave me a couple of good pointers that I need to incorporate on future bench press attempts.
Assistance exercises: I’ve done the band stretching before, but the rolling tricep extensions were something different…in a good way.
Box jumps, KB swings: Felt okay performing these, but I could also feel myself getting tired after round two.
Post-class: I “rewarded” myself with a six-mile bike ride along the Mount Vernon Trail and with Winnie’s yoga class in the evening.
“Not too bad for an old man.” -CFDC’s own ODB
Oh, I almost forgot:
I hope that everyone had a pleasant and safe Memorial Day.
To “Double B” (Brendan), “4M” (Mark Minukas, Mike Minukas), and to all of the U.S. servicemen and servicewomen past and present: Thank you. 🙂
Bench was feeling a little rusty but managed to work up to 255 x 4 on my last set. The metcon was great, good practicing on the 30” box. Tried to focus on getting fully extended at the top of the box and jumping off right next to it for a quicker rebound. Kettlebell swings felt ok, tried a few reps pulling it in close rather than letting it swing out all the way but just don’t have a great feel for how to do this and really get my hips into it. See you all this evening, last WOD before regionals!
Thank you for the nice compliment Greg. You know I think you kick butt especially when you are knocking out pull-ups like nobody’s business. Someday I’ll get there.
It was great working with Chrissy, Mary Katherine and Amelia on the bench. I have to step-up the work on my upper body strength. I’m definitely not where I want to be. I’ll be sticking with regular burpees. I do those bad enough.
Sorry I missed class. I was hanging on the beach and learning to surf. Class looks great.
For all the VFF speeds fans out there they are finally being released in the US…. I am so excited
Ah, you guys would do a monster chest day while I was gone. See you all tonight.
It’s amazing how much you can enjoy running when you’re not thinking about running. I was also happy about having a rugby player in our group, that is until she tried to run me over in the second-to-last corner.
I second the shout-out to Dian – she has really put in the effort, both in dedication and application, and it shows. However, don’t short yourself Greg, you have come a long way since you began (nearly a year ago!); your cleans this past Saturday proved just how far you have progressed and how much stronger you’ve become.
I only have a half a leg in one of the pictures but will comment to avoid burpees.
Of course I enjoyed the indian run – always fun to get outside. Also nice to give the legs a break and foucs on upper body.
Looks like Chrissy, Max, MC and Joanne have a plan for everyone. Mike M. gets a pass.
I love all the comments!!! This is the way it’s supposed to be! I hope you guys enjoy commenting and not just commenting because you don’t want to do extra burpees. Well, even if that’s the only reason now, I hope after awhile commenting on the blog will become something you guys look forward to doing.
We are always interested in reading how you did in class, whether it’s how many reps you did for an AMRAP wod or how heavy you got up to in a strength wod. Leaving those numbers in the comments is also a good way to keep track of how you progress, when we do the same exercises in the future, you can always search the blog entries by keyword and check how much you’ve improved 🙂
I get a pass–I’m out of town!!! So sorry for the delayed post, everyone…I hope I didn’t cause any unnecessary burpees tonight 🙁 See you Sunday!
Finally got to watch the burped video. That looks awesome. I love them!!!!!!!!!!!!
Better late than really late … I brought in my friend Mike who got me into Crossfit, and he had a great time. The Indian run was fun, too!
This is Max, by the way, and I did enjoy those burpees!
I was wondering who Stohlman was!